The Atlanta Braves have been just about unwatchable so far this season, but
there will be a sellout crowd on Friday night when the team plays its first
game at the new SunTrust Park, which is nowhere near downtown Atlanta and
the old Turner Field but in a northern Cobb County suburb. The park looks
beautiful, but I'm still not clear why the team would move away from a
20-year-old stadium in the heart of the city. Oh yeah, for money. It's
going to be a traffic nightmare getting to the new stadium. In perhaps a
bad omen Wednesday, several boxes carrying foam Braves tomahawks fell off a
truck in Atlanta and blocked two lanes of traffic on a busy interstate.
Those are being given out Friday. SunTrust Park seats 41,149, roughly a 20
percent drop from Turner Field's capacity.

A 2:20 matinee on the North Side and a nice pitching matchup. The Cubs'
Kyle Hendricks won the NL ERA title last year and was third in the Cy Young
voting largely due to what he did at Wrigley Field, going 9-2 with a 1.32
ERA there in 15 starts. Hendricks wasn't overly sharp in his 2017 debut in
Milwaukee in giving up four runs and five hits (uncharacteristic two
homers) over six innings, but he did win. Hendricks was 3-0 with a 0.47 ERA
in three starts last year vs. the Bucs. Gregory Polanco can hit him, going
7-for-16 with two doubles and a homer. Pirates ace Gerrit Cole (0-1, 6.55)
was roughed up in Boston in his season debut but had a quality start Sunday
against the Braves in a no-decision. Cole likes Wrigley too, going 6-1 with
a 2.20 ERA in seven career starts there. Anthony Rizzo is 8-for-23 off him
with three doubles. Javier Baez may sit this one out as he's 1-for-9 with
three strikeouts off Cole.

Key trends:
The Cubs are 5-0 in Hendricks' past five vs. the Pirates. Pittsburgh is 6-1
in Cole's past seven in Chicago. The "over/under" is 9-2 in the past 11
meetings.

The marquee series of the weekend, at least in terms of history as the
Yankees own the most World Series titles with 27 and the Cardinals have the
most among NL clubs with 11. Struggling St. Louis will add the designated
hitter. The Cards go with Michael Wacha, who looked great in his season
debut last Saturday in beating the Reds and just one run crossing the plate
on three hits over six innings. He's a rare early bright spot. Not many
Yankees have seen him. Starlin Castro has by far the most, going 10-for-22
with two homers and seven RBIs. Masahiro Tanaka (0-1, 11.74) was bombed in
his season debut in Tampa Bay but better last time out in Baltimore, going
five innings and allowing three runs. He did walk four and hit two. No
Cardinals batter has faced him.

Key trends:
The Cards are 6-0 in Wacha's past six starts. The Yankees are 19-7 in
Tanaka's past 26 at home. The over is 7-2 in Tanaka's past seven on five
days of rest.

Early lean:
Cardinals and over.

Padres at Braves (-150, 7.5)

We will have to wait and see whether SunTrust Park favors pitchers or
hitters. It does join Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park, Texas' Globe
Life Park and Detroit's Comerica Park as the only major league stadiums
that will face southeast (from home plate toward the outfield). The
dimensions are 335 down the left-field line, 402 to center and 335 to
right. The wall is as short as six feet in some parts to 16 feet high from
right-center to the right-field line.Braves ace Julio Teheran (0-0, 0.00)
gets the honor of throwing the first pitch in the new park. You see those
numbers and perhaps think he's making his 2017 debut, but he hasn't allowed
an earned run and just 10 hits in 13 innings. Teheran was 2-0 with a 2.40
ERA last year vs. the Padres. Wil Myers has two solo homers off him in 10
at-bats. San Diego's Jhoulys Chacin (1-1, 8.10) was torched in his debut
vs. the Dodgers but blanked the Giants over 6.2 innings last time out. He
spent the first month of the 2015 season with Atlanta, posting a 5.40 ERA
in five starts. Brandon Phillips is 2-for-13 off him.

Key trends:
The Padres are 1-8 in their past nine after an off day. The Braves are 0-6
in Teheran's past six on Friday. The over is 9-3 in Teheran's past 12.

Early lean:
Braves and under (love the under).

Astros at A's (+120, 7.5)

Houston is going to win the AL West if lefty Dallas Keuchel pitches like he
did in his 2015 Cy Young campaign and not like last year. Thus far, it has
been Cy Keuchel as he has allowed just one run and four hits over 14
innings in games vs. the Royals and Mariners. He is the fourth pitcher in
MLB history to go at least seven innings and allow two hits or fewer in
each of his first two games of a season, joining Nolan Ryan (1979), Tom
Phoebus (1970) and Lon Warneke (1934). This will be Keuchel's first road
start of the year. He didn't get a decision in two starts last year vs. the
A's with a 2.03 ERA. Oakland goes with Kendall Graveman (2-0, 2.08), now
the team's ace with Sonny Gray's injury problems. Graveman has given up
three runs and nine hits over 13 innings. He was 2-1 with a 4.10 ERA in
four 2016 starts against Houston. Nori Aoki is 7-for-14 career off him with
three doubles.

Key trends:
The Astros are 7-2 in Keuchel's past nine vs. Oakland. The under is 4-0 in
his previous four against the A's.

Early lean:
Astros and under.

Rangers at Mariners (-140, 8)

Seattle had to put shortstop Jean Segura on the 10-day DL earlier this week
with a right hamstring strain. Segura was great last year with Arizona and
was hitting .313 with a homer and three RBIs this year. That's the last
thing the struggling Mariners need. Segura cost the M's Taijuan Walker.
Taylor Motter will fill in at shortstop while Segura is out. It's the first
road start of the year for Rangers lefty Martin Perez (1-1, 2.38). He was
2-8 with a 5.78 ERA in 15 road starts last year but also 3-0 with a 2.63
ERA in four starts against the Mariners. Kyle Seager is a .400 hitter off
him with four homers and seven RBIs in 30 at-bats. Seattle's Felix
Hernandez (0-1, 4.09) is still a good pitcher but clearly not a Cy Young
candidate any longer. This will be his home debut. King Felix was 5-4 with
a 3.93 ERA in 13 starts at Safeco in 2016. Rougned Odor is a .167 hitter
off him with nine strikeouts in 24 at-bats.

Key trends:
The Mariners are 6-2 in Hernandez's past eight vs. Texas. The under is 4-1
in his past five at home in the series. The Rangers are 7-2 in Perez's past
nine vs. Seattle.